The next day (after the student newspaper started asking questions), the department opened an investigation into the incident. Police spokesman Paul Dillon told the Diamondback that the energy drinks do not appear to have been a bribe, although the officers may have violated the department's gift policy.

[After the traffic stop was completed] the woman asked the officers if they might want some Red Bull she had left over from her day's work on campus, Dillon said. The officers accepted, he said.

"She said, 'Hey, you guys want some Red Bulls to take back for the cops?' And they did it," Dillon said. "It was after the traffic stop was done. She said she was quitting for the night and had Red Bull to give away."